Bangkok D.K Thai Food @ Block 125 Lorong 2 Toa Payoh [Singapore]

I am lucky to live in Singapore; its small size and status as a melting pot means we get a variety of international cuisines all within reach via our efficient public transportation system! 

My intention was to have a late lunch with my family at Nagara Thai in Toa Payoh but my elder sister suggested another Thai eatery at Braddell, within walking distance from the MRT station; Bangkok D.K Thai Food. 

Even though it's a stall within a coffeeshop by the name of Johnson Eatery, it has an extensive menu offering similar to a full-fledged restaurant! As expected, I was in a huge dilemma even though I knew one of them shall be their moo ping; which sadly, was out of stock. :(

If you are deterred by the sheer amount of dishes or too lazy to decide what to have, you may consider their sets instead. I have my elder sister with me and unlike me, she knew what she wanted. Good for me as it can be so stressful deciding for everyone. 

Fried Prawn Cake - looking like puffier onion rings, the light crispy batter was well received by my family and the filling inside was soft, tasty prawn paste. It was good although I thought it might be better to add in pieces of real prawn meat for better "bite".

Mango Salad - sour and spicy, Thai style salad is generally not my cup of tea but this was pretty addictive due to the sprinklers of peanut bits! 

Stir Fried Basil Minced Pork - the spiciness was unbearable yet incredibly flavorful; bet it would go super well with plain, white rice! I have had this dish before in other Thai eateries and one common issue is that they tend to overcook the meat, resulting in a harder texture. Not the one here.

Pad Thai - I have always complained that after Thipsamai, I can never look at pad thai the same way again. The pad thai here was still incomparable to Thipsamai even though it's one of the better ones in Singapore with a rich aroma complementing the smoky sweetness of the sauce enveloping the flat noodles. 

Pineapple Fried Rice - my first memory of Thai style pineapple fried rice was from Taste of Thailand at their original stall in Sembawang Shopping Centre and it remained a favourite throughout my childhood days. My recent experience at its related restaurant, Bei Sheng Seafood, was a major letdown though.

This plate from Bangkok D.K Thai Food brought back great memories as it was in essence a non-fanciful plate of fragrant, pineapple fried rice that retained the good, old yummy taste.  

Green Curry Chicken - another favourite Thai dish that I would usually order in Singapore. However, the reviews had been far from spectacular; there's always something wrong; either with the consistency of the curry or with the taste of the chicken. 

This one? I would strongly recommend. The gravy was thick, aromatic with the magic in place to entice me to have it with its perfect companion; rice. Chicken meat also didn't taste like it was frozen. If there's anything for me to complain about this, it would be the type of brinjals used. I would very much prefer the traditionally round ones used by Thais. 

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I think a picture of empty dishes is good evidence on how much we enjoyed the food at Bangkok D.K Thai Food. It's a no brainer I would be back and I sure hope it would be very soon! Hm... maybe I should just take away (tabao) since we can't dine-in until, hopefully, from 21 June 2021. 

Address

125 Lorong 2 Toa Payoh, 

Within Johnson Eatery,

Singapore 311125

(near Braddell MRT station)

Map

As above.

Pricing

Fried Prawn Cake - S$7.00

Mango Salad - S$6.00

Stir Fried Basil Minced Pork - S$6.00

Pad Thai - S$5.00

Pineapple Fried Rice - S$5.00

Green Curry Chicken - S$7.00

Kki Sweets - Cafe with No Signboard @ Seah Street (Next to Raffles Hotel) [Singapore]

This visit to Kki was long delayed as I had heard of its renowned Japanese-inspired cakes back when it was located at Ann Siang Hill. By the time I decided to drop in to try the cakes; the shop had already closed due to a doubling in rent! 

Therefore, I was astounded to read an article about Kki on Singapore's national newspaper and this time; procrastination shall be thrown out of the window! Problem; I couldn't find the entrance to the cafe when I was at the said location as there wasn't any signboard signifying its presence.

Super thanks to this signage though as the supposed symbol on the notice is actually KKI if you rotate it 90 degrees anti-clockwise! Anyway, we were lucky to secure seats almost immediately as reservation is encouraged (to get the cakes you have in mind) and the cafe can only sit 15 persons with safe distancing. 

Don't be shocked; the cafe was only this big with an open concept kitchen. Everyone shall sit around this long boardroom meeting table, despite the fact that I do not know anyone else except for Alex!

I don't know what to make out from the design; simple, minimalist yet not as plain with dry plants (are those wheat) sprouting out randomly from the table and bushels of them hung from the ceiling.

Another eyebrow raiser - I thought this was some sort of a paint palette carelessly placed on the table. It was actually a bloody menu; one that didn't have any pictures to give you a rough idea of what you would be ordering! To be able to imagine what to expect can be real interesting. 

Specialty Coffee - Not bad. I have recently taken quite a liking to Japanese pour-over coffee; even though it was still bitter with a light sourness, the texture was smooth with a comfortable aroma that's easy on the taste buds. 

Apple Green Tea - for Alex as he only likes local coffee! I took a sip and it had that thinly veiled apple fragrance. Most importantly, Alex enjoyed the tea.

Our cakes! Remember I mentioned earlier about imagining what to expect? Well, I did expect the cakes to be bigger given their price tag of at least S$10.00 each! They were pretty though.

As we didn't have a reservation, there were only four cakes for us to choose from; namely dumo, antoinette, fromage and "J". Given the limited descriptions, my elimination method was based on the ingredients we didn't like; e.g. coffee and rum. 

"J" - why is it called "J" when it's visually a pot of soil with a single stalk of sprouting!? Frankly, it looked so real; I used my fingers to move the "cement pot" for better angling.

That "cement pot" was actually compact sesame mousse but it's the insides that regaled our taste buds. I am usually not into such complicated layers of flavours as one wrong move would mar the experience. 

But the J impressed; it was a balance of sourness, sweetness and nuttiness that fused together to elicit one expressive vocal tone; "Mmmmmmmmm"! I especially loved the surprise brought forth by the crunchy things hidden in the middle that tasted like rice crispies.

Antoinette - looking like a jewelled tear-drop, I don't deny that not seeing how it looked like beforehand might not be such a bad thing after all. 

That white cream might seem hard but for a moment after biting through; I thought it's a literally a puff of lightly sweetened cottony cloud that I could eat! It perfumed my mouth and the question that popped in my brain then was; where's the mango? 

There it was; like a treasure waiting to be discovered! One thing about both cakes; their 'cake' content was extremely low and this might not be well received by those looking for traditional cakes. For me, I don't mind eating less flour and taste wise, prefer Antoinette over "J" even though on photos; "J" was more captivating.

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Out of their "eight cakes and three plated desserts" on their menu, I only tried two. Would be back to check out the rest but in the meantime, let me save some money first. Oh, and a mental note for me to remember to make a reservation before patronizing Kki! 

Address

3 Seah St, #01-01, 

Singapore 188379 

(Next to Raffles Hotel)

Map

As above.

Operating Hours

Mondays to Tuesdays - Closed

Wednesdays to Saturdays - 11.00 am to 7.00 pm

Sundays - 11.00 am to 5.00 pm

Website

https://www.kki-sweets.com/

Pricing

Specialty Coffee - S$6.00

Apple Green Tea - S$6.00

"J" - S$13.50 

Antoinette - S$10.50

(Subject to Service Charge)

Sukiya (すき家) - Gyūdon Chain Restaurant now at Suntec City Mall [Singapore]

Suntec City Mall is my favourite mall in Singapore; mainly because it's huge with plenty of retail & dining options, and connected to other shopping centres like Marina Square, Millenia Walk and even to Raffles City and Citylink! 

When I last visited Suntec City Mall and checked out Yenly Yours Dessert; I did notice the newly opened Sukiya (すき家), given the queue after lunch hours. A pity my cousin and I weren't blessed with extra tummy space then although I told myself I would be back.

That took three months but it's better to be late than never! Anyway, Sukiya is said to command the largest chain of gyudon (beef bowls) restaurants with over 2,500 outlets globally and counts Yoshinoya (𠮷野家) and Matsuya (松屋) as its direct competitor! 

One amazing thing I noted at Sukiya was that the five type of portions you can opt for your gyudon! Want to just take a teeny weeny bite? Go for the S which is 80% of standard portion for beef and 65% of standard portion for rice. Prefer more meat and less rice? The XM is so for me with 165% of  standard portion for beef and only about 75% of standard portion for rice! 

Confused? Refer to the photo above! As you can see, the pricing would be friendly for your wallet, with the standard portion going for less than S$5.00. I doubt you can find gyudon at such pricing in Singapore unless Matsuya (松屋) decided to have a branch here. 

And you know what ? 

Tea was complimentary; extra savings for me! 

Scan the online menu to see what's available; for ordering, you would have to refer to the slip of paper placed at the service-call console on the table, where there's yet another QR code. In manpower-scarce Singapore, especially during this pandemic; it's a no-choice development for many dining establishments.

Order, sent! 

Half Boiled Egg Gyudon - Alex's one and in small portion as he is never known to be a big eater! One strange thing was that I expected the half boiled egg to be on the gyudon but as you can see, it came in a separate bowl and wasn't even cracked for us.

Oh well, maybe the food would taste better with some "hard work" by the diner. Alex did enjoy his gyudon, mixed in with the half boiled egg. 

Gyudon with Karage Chicken Combo - my XM portion! Miso soup was normal, although there were quite a lot of seaweed within. It had to thank the rainy weather that day though as having a bowl of hot soup gave a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling!

Karage chicken - crispy with juicy meat within; they tasted quite okay but at the pricing of 3 pieces for S$4.50, which also included the miso soup, I didn't find the items spectacular enough to add this combo in the future.  

Now on the signature gyudon - said to use 100% Japanese koshihikari rice and high quality beef imported from US; I can't wait to dig in! 

Loads of thinly sliced beef and they were tender and so fatty on top of a bed of moist, soy-sauce-soaked rice; qualities I enjoyed very much in gyudon! The taste reminded me of my dining experience at Matsuya (松屋) in Hokkaido but with a sauce that, interestingly, had a unique flavour that's quite similar to alcohol. Nope, I didn't get drunk.

Obviously, this can't be compared to the epic gyudon from Megumi which cost more than doubled the price at Sukiya, and that was the pricing I paid at Megumi six years ago. 

Yakiniku Plate - I must be crazy to order another beef dish but beef is a meat I enjoyed immensely and since the beef yakiniku looked like it's the second best thing at Matsuya; why not take the opportunity to also order a serving, without rice of course.

Compared to the gyudon, the yakiniku had a sweeter and smokier marination. It appeared to be the same thinly sliced beef in gyudon but the taste appealed to me more; except that eating them without rice was overwhelming for the palate after a while.

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To be honest, the XM was still a bit too much for me and I would strongly suggest the standard M portion. If you are ordering more dishes, you may even wish to consider downgrading to the S portion. For the price, you bet I would be back again!

Address

3 Temasek Boulevard, 

#01-647 East Wing,

Suntec City Mall,

Singapore 038983

Website

https://www.sukiya.com.sg/

Menu

Limited and as above. 

For full menu, scan the QR shared earlier.

Pricing

Half Boiled Egg Gyudon - S$5.20

Gyudon with Karage Chicken Combo - S$11.20

Yakiniku Plate - S$6.00

(Inclusive of GST, No Service Charge)